Tips for Buying Collectibles on eBay

The first items to be sold on eBay were mostly collectibles. Buying
collectibles on eBay is still a fun activity and can be made even more exciting if you know the right
tips.

The following are tips for buying collectibles on eBay.

Find a category

You may find that your items of interest are put under a single category. So find this category and bookmark
that category page so that you can easily browse to it whenever you want.

Search for flaws

If you’re a collector of a particular item, say vintage video games, then you probably know a lot about video
games. Use this knowledge to your advantage and find great deals by searching for mistakes made by a seller. A
seller might have omitted key details about an item or they may not be aware that their item is a collector’s gem,
like a rare version of an item.

Therefore once you find an item like this, contact the seller for more details to confirm that it’s what you
think it is. If your aim is to resell the collectibles, you can reap huge profits from these rare types.

Be a skeptic when it comes to descriptions

Often times, you’ll come across item descriptions where a seller uses words like ‘rare’, ‘unusual’, or
‘uncommon’. However, don’t take their word for it, even if the item seems uncommon. A lot of sellers use those
words indiscriminately to draw people’s attention. Many times, the items described as rare are in fact very common,
so be sure about what you want buying before you bid.

Follow Other Users

As you buy more collectibles on eBay, you’ll notice a trend where
a certain group of the same buyers are buying from the same group of sellers that appear to regularly sell
good quality collectibles. So, follow these users by bookmarking their user pages and come back often to check
out what they’ve listed or bid on.

Don’t get too glued on one auction

You don’t have to stick to a single auction when there are millions of items listed on eBay every day. If you
miss it now, you can get it later or you can get another item elsewhere instead.

Be ready to walk away, just like it’s done in a negotiation. Otherwise, you may pay through the nose if you
can’t let go of an auction. There might be a rare item that other sellers may not have but that means that it will
attract a bidding war with a high price. That’s not the kind of item you want to bid on so find an auction that is
priced lower.

Mind the shipping costs

Items that sell for relatively low process usual have higher shipping costs to make up for the low cost price.
Therefore, mind these costs as you bid. A useful tactic is to buy a set of low-priced items from the same seller
because they’re likely to give you a discount on shipping.